The Art Of Giving
by Idle Stripe
Summary: Merry Christmas everybody! With the holiday season around the corner, Tora is working overtime on 'The Project', whatever that is. Will she finish it before Christmas, and why is Leon curious about mistletoe? LeonOC.


_**-The Art Of Giving-**_

_**-A 'Kingdom Hearts' fanfiction-**_

=^w^=

The chilly winter winds whipped around the Castle Gate, sticking to the rubble and other rocks that littered the place, making them unable to be sat on for fear of a person's derriere sticking to them. Lucky for Tora she didn't want to sit down right now, for she was busy chiselling something out of a large block of sandstone with her elbow blades. Beside her was an open toolkit of stone carving tools, gifts to her from the stonemasons in the Coliseum. Lowering her arms, she wiped at her forehead and examined her work-in-progress before looking at a small image pinned to the stone carving kit.

"Hm, not bad," she said, looking back at her work, "Thank Nagi sandstone is easier to carve than marble." That said, she returned to her project.

'The Project', as she was calling it to avoid people guessing its true nature, was something she'd been working on since late November ever since she'd done some routine surveillance with Tron. They'd come across some old files that belonged to Ansem the Wise and perused them, finding them to be filled with information about people who had lived in Radiant Garden a long time ago. Tora saved the files and printed out images from them, determined to turn them into a Christmas present for the whole of Radiant Garden. It had taken her the better part of the rest of November to trade the stonemasons at the Coliseum the tools she'd needed; she'd never stayed there for so long and fought in so many battles before.

Phil paid her handsomely, but that wasn't the point.

With one of her presents completed, Tora had half-started one and was nearly finished the other, which was the one she was currently working on. Picking up a small chisel, she stepped onto a spare piece of rock and began to chisel something out near the top of the present, stopping only when she heard footsteps behind her.

"So this is where you keep disappearing to," Leon said as he stopped a few feet away from her, "I thought you kept going back to Halloween Town to help Santa."

"That's what I'd like you to believe," Tora replied, hiding the stone carving kit, "What do you want, Leon?"

"Must you jump to conclusions?"

"You're carrying a sprig of mistletoe in your hand and, judging by the way you're fiddling with it, you had absolutely no idea what it was until I told you." The Gunblade wielder lifted the sprig to his eyes and examined it, the white berries almost mocking him.

Mistletoe?

"It's a plant that is often strewn around the place about Christmas time." Tora said, making him jump.

"I said that out loud." Leon nearly pinched the bridge of his nose at his stupidity.

"Yeah, you kind of did," The magician took the mistletoe from him and looked at it, "What else did you want to know about it?"

"I want to know why Cloud forced it upon me and told me to go looking for you." The blush on Tora's face was passed off for the cold wind biting at her cheeks; lucky it didn't snow in Radiant Garden, no matter how many times Yuffie wished for it to happen.

"To be honest, I don't know what goes through Cloud's head half the time, so I've learnt to just smile and nod." she said, looking up at the brunet. He took the mistletoe back and looked at it again, expecting it to spontaneously combust or something. When it continued to hang from his hand, he sighed and pocketed it then looked at the block of sandstone that was covered by a cloth.

"So what exactly are you doing with that stone?" he asked. Tora jumped and turned to face him, her eyes as wide as Sora's whenever he was caught stealing Aerith's cookies.

"Nothing you need to know about!" she replied quickly, "It's a Christmas present and that's all you need to know. I'll be back for dinner and ask Cloud about the mistletoe; bye Leon!" Pushing the Gunblade wielder away from the Castle Gate back into the Bailey, Tora quickly disappeared back to 'The Project' and began working anew to hide her embarrassment.

Of course she knew why Cloud had sent Leon down to her with the mistletoe; even _Stitch_ knew about the sparks that flew between her and the brunet. But she was a coward to act upon her feelings and he was just stubborn thanks to bad past experiences.

"Wow, it must be cold; my tears are like moving icicles." Wiping the salt water from her cheeks the magician resumed chiselling out some detail atop the sandstone she was working on.

=^w^=

By the time Leon had arrived at Merlin's house, the cold night had well and truly set into the town. Stepping inside, he was immediately ushered to the fire by Aerith with a warm drink pressed into his hands. The mistletoe was still in his pocket, but no-one paid attention to it.

"You didn't do it."

Well, no-one except Cloud.

"Why does it matter to you?" Leon snapped at the blond, "Tora only told me that this stuff was strewn about around this time of year; what else could I possibly want to know about it?" Cloud sat down beside the brunet and took the mistletoe from his pocket, twirling it in his gloved hands. He'd hoped that Tora would've at least explained the tradition behind the parasite, but obviously her in-denial brain had forced her not to explain it to the Gunblade wielder. Sighing, the blond put the mistletoe on the table beside him and spun around.

"This matters to me because I want to see you stop moping every time you stop spending time with Tora, whom I consider family to me after she helped me with...my problem," Leon winced at that, "And there's a tradition that goes with mistletoe."

"It's not like the eggnog tradition Yuffie made up, is it?" Storm grey eyes looked over at the ninja, who was on her fourth glass of eggnog (literally) and swayed from side to side rather dangerously.

"Nothing like that. The tradition of mistletoe is that if two people are caught underneath it they are obligated to kiss."

"What sort of kiss?"

"It depends on the couple and how much alcohol is in their system at the time, but tradition dictates that it's at least a kiss on the lips." Cloud smirked at the colour that suddenly flared across Leon's nose, making his scar look slightly inflamed and red. It actually looked kind of –

If Cloud kept going down that train of thought he might as well put on 'The Dress'. Apparently Aerith still had it.

"So that's why you sent me out to find Tora," the Gunblade wielder said, "You wanted me to stop being stubborn and give into the supposed feelings I have for her."

"There's no supposing about it, Leon," Aerith said, sitting down beside Cloud, "You have feelings for the Twin of Touch, and she has feelings for you too."

"Aerith!" All three looked up at the gasp, discovering it to be a very red and very embarrassed Twin of Touch, whose gold eyes were fixated on Leon's wide storm grey ones. Opening her mouth, all Tora managed to release was a squeak before she bolted for the back of the house. Aerith covered her mouth and her green eyes widened.

"I shouldn't have said that. I'm so sorry." she gasped. Cloud shook his head and stood up.

"I'll go after Tora. You stay here and deal with our ever-fearless leader." he said, chuckling at his own joke before disappearing into the back of the house. Leon's brain was currently working overtime at the events that had just taken place. Judging by Tora's surprise at Aerith's confession, it was all true.

So _that_ was what mistletoe could be used for...

=^w^=

Tora tugged at her plait and stared out at the townspeople gathered at the Castle Gate for the unveiling of her Christmas present. The last time she'd faced a group of people this large she was going for her magician's apprenticeship on Atrophy. Straightening her vest, she stepped out onto the small makeshift stage and faced everyone, her eyes gleaming with confidence and Christmas spirit.

"Townspeople of Radiant Garden, the Restoration Committee and Keybearers, I thank you all for braving the cold and joining me here for the unveiling of my gift to you. I'm sorry I woke you up at such an early hour but I'm sure that your beds will still be there for you when you return home," Many people laughed, "I began this little project somewhere toward the end of November, when I came across some old files on the computer while I was doing a routine surveillance on the town's security system. I decided that the files would be a good idea to use to create something for the town as a way of celebrating its history.

"I'd managed to secure the sandstone and the tools necessary from the Coliseum, where I had to fight in several tournaments to compensate for the materials. The munny I earned from the tournaments has gone toward several other projects I'm currently working on, mostly my family in Twilight Town and their large beautification project there. The statues that I am about to unveil are representative of the courage and bravery that Radiant Garden has to help it overcome anything that is thrown its way.

"Without further ado, I present to you my Christmas gift." Tora waved her hands, and the cloth covering each of the statues fell away, making the townspeople gasp with awe. Each statue was intricately carved, the detail on each amazingly accurate. Many people began whispering about the techniques used to carve the statues, but it was quickly silenced when the magician cleared her throat.

"The one in the centre is Aqua, while the two on the left and right are Ventus and Terra respectively. They were the former Keybearers." she explained, "Thank you for attending and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas." That said, she jumped off the stage and trotted over to the Restoration Committee.

"They look really good, Tora!" Sora cried as she arrived, "That must've taken you ages to do!"

"The worst part was getting over the fact that Ventus looks like Roxas. There's another story that goes with Ventus but I'll tell you another time." she replied, returning his sudden hug. The brunet Keyblade wielder grinned.

"Cool! Another Christmas present!" he cheered, following Riku and Kairi toward the statues to properly examine them. Tora sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, then stopped when she realised that Leon did exactly the same thing.

Speaking of the Gunblade wielder, where was he? He'd shown up for the unveiling and then just...disappeared. Then again, she wasn't surprised; she'd been avoiding him since Aerith had let slip that she harboured feelings for the brunet.

A hand tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around, only to nearly hit her head on said Gunblade wielder's cheek. Leon said nothing, just took her hand and led her away from the gathering toward the Bailey, which had been decorated in a festive fashion by the three treasure-hunting fairies. Sitting down on the stone wall, Tora bit her lip and racked her brain for a silence-breaker.

"Stop that." Leon said finally.

"Stop what?" she asked.

"Biting your lip."

"Why, will it make my lip break out into spots or something?"

"No, but it will start another chain of events."

"I'm just biting my lip, Leon. It's not like there's..." Gold eyes suddenly caught sight of the mistletoe branch hanging above their heads, "Right. There's some kind of pick up line that goes with biting lips, did you know that?"

"I did know that," The brunet helped the magician to stand up and gently cupped her cheek, "and I'll kiss your lip better if you want." There was no room for replies as he'd made good on his promise. Tora's eyes fluttered shut the minute the initial contact was made, her hands grabbing at the fur lapels of Leon's jacket and bring his warmth closer to her body. In response, Leon moved his hand from the magician's cheek to her back, pulling her closer. Swallowing her gasp when he gently bit down on her lower lip, he soothed the area with a swipe of his tongue and rubbed small circles on her scarred hip with his other hand.

As they slowly drifted apart, Tora licked her lips. "...you've been practising."

"Are you surprised?" the brunet asked, a smirk on his slightly swollen lips. The magician shrugged.

"Only if you took lessons from Cloud," The look on his face made her laugh, "I'm kidding, Leon. So I take it you liked my gift to Radiant Garden?"

"Yes. Did you like my gift?" A smile breached the face of the magician, making her eyes glow like two suns. Leon could honestly say he'd never seen anything more beautiful.

"Very much so." she said. The Gunblade wielder smiled and sat down on the stone wall, pulling her into his embrace at the same time so that they could watch the gathering slowly dissipate from the Bailey, ready to give more gifts to those that they knew. A loud cry from Yuffie made the two of them laugh, laughing harder when they heard Cid's voice yelling something about stealing his items or something or other.

"Looks like everyone is in the giving mood." Tora said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"And we'll continue to give even after the holiday is over," Leon tilted her head so she looked into his eyes again, "Merry Christmas, Tora."

"Merry Christmas, Leon." As the two kissed again, they didn't notice Yuna flutter up to the mistletoe and pluck it from the holding, smiling at them before disappearing in a flash of fairy light. They also didn't notice Cloud walk past toward the Postern, throwing a small smile in their direction.

"Merry Christmas, you two." he murmured.

=^w^=

_**DISCLAIMER: The disclaimer applies to the characters and settings of 'Kingdom Hearts' and all its associated games – Disney and SquareEnix – and Tora Altona – me. **_


End file.
